The Familiarity of Home
Like many this past year, I spent a great deal of time at home. But for aneighborhood walk or the occasional trip to the grocery store, post office or pharmacy, my world did not extend much beyond the mailbox at the end of the driveway. My world had become small. Nay, I say, my world
I have just read a transcendent book…
When I read, I sometimes use a recent notecard a friend or family member has given me as my bookmark. While reading Lauren Belfer’s transcendent novel And After the Fire, I did just that. It makes me feel like I am reading with someone whose company I enjoy. As I neared the end of this
Thinking Outside the Box
In my last year of teaching, I set aside the standard curriculum at the start of every week and introduced what I called “Outside-the-Box Thinking.” Monday mornings began with a game or a challenge. I would have my students first work individually, and then after a certain period of time, collaboratively. One such challenge was
A Bespoke Shroud for My Mother
I have begun a new project inspired by my mother’s passing last year. Her name was Rosemary. While the time spent at her bedside was deeply meaningful with the whole family present, the time afterwards was a little unsettling. Several hours passed and the funeral director arrived and proceeded to wrap her in a very
René Magritte in a Miniature Art Gallery
This past week, we saw a bicyclist come to a sudden stop when he noticed our miniature art gallery. He spent time looking at the art, the miniature people visiting the art gallery, and reading the description. A Fed Ex deliveryman did the same. A woman walking home with a bag of groceries stopped to
Homity Pie
The Homity Pie Story: We discovered this most satisfying dish in the Treasurer’s House Café in York, England. We’ve recently learned that the recipe was the creation of English Girl Guides (the Girl Scouts of England) who came up with the recipe during World War II rationing. They might not have used butter in their pastry,
Miniature Art Gallery
In our front garden, we have opened a miniature art gallery. The art on the wall rotates. The people inside the gallery change regularly. From our windows we can see pedestrians stop and spend time looking inside. One person left a dollar bill — I think to say it was worth an admission price The
Journeys with Ursula K. Le Guin
It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end. On a cold and windy Sunday afternoon in 2015, Bill and I settled into our seats in UCLA’s Royce Hall to listen to Ursula K. Le Guin in conversation with Meryl Friedman from UCLA’s Center for